


Heroes Last Forever

by sophiacrutchfeild



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, stupid stupid children, there might be a chance of a happy ending, we can hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:52:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8374564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophiacrutchfeild/pseuds/sophiacrutchfeild
Summary: It wasn't supposed to end like this. No closure. No love. Maybe it was for the best that she never showed... As much as it hurt, at least he finally knew where he stood.





	

He sits at the top of the Eiffel Tower, a red rose clenched in his fist, blood from thorns sliding down, and although he knows it should hurt, he's long since been numbed by the cold. 

He idly wonders how long it will take for someone to notice that there's a man sitting on top of Paris' most famous monument. Not too much longer, surely. They'll wonder how on Earth he managed it. 

"I knew how to get up here because I used to be Chat Noir," he might say, and they'd smirk, tell him that he'd better tell the truth unless he wanted to spend the night in questioning. 

He sighs, and begins climbing down, the cold metal biting his bloody hands. She's not coming. He's sat up there for the past thirteen nights, hoping that a woman with black hair and blue eyes would join him. Say she missed him. Call him "Chaton" or "Minou." He'd give her the rose, tell her he knew she'd come, and kiss her hand, calling her "my Lady." They'd laugh, and hug, and everything would be like it was when they were teenagers and life was full of possibilities. 

As he descends the tower, he notices the scars surrounding the finger on his right hand, the finger that used to hold the most dangerous weapon in the world, and the key to his freedom. Somehow, he never thought that finger would one day be empty. It's a little misshapen, from his hand growing around the ring. It's clear something used to be there. It's obvious he lost something... Someone...

He regrets never knowing who she was more than anything. 

He was hoping he could fix that, here. They said they'd meet at the Eiffel, didn't they? Three years ago? He's certain he's remembering it right. 

"Ladybug?" he asked.

"What is it?"

"We're not going to stay around much longer. Are we?"

"We defeated Papillon... So I suppose not." She frowned at that. "Why?"

"I don't want to just... Lose you forever," he told her, voice quiet, rough. "I... I want to see who you are. I want us to show ourselves. The other option is never seeing each other again..." 

She tensed, and shook her head. "I... I can't." 

He looked over the city. "Well... What if, in say, three years, we promise to meet, right back here. Suit or not. Then we don't have to do it now, but we won't be apart forever. Okay?" 

She smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Okay, Chaton. Three years." 

Three years came and went, three years of waking up and not being able to run across the city, three years of never seeing the skyline from a cat's eye view, and three painful years without the person he cared about more than anyone, but he just kelt reminding himself, just a few more years, a few more months, a few more weeks until I see her again... 

Maybe she died. He doesn't know. He'll never know now, because he's giving up on the promise that she made. She can't or won't keep it. 

He dropps the last few feet to the ground, and his pant leg rips, skinning his knee. Everything feels numb, broken.

"...Adrien?"

He looks up, and for a moment, one blissful moment, he's sure it's her. 

Then he sees the sketchpad, and the pieces fall into place. It's not the oicture he wanted to see.

"Hey, Marinette. It's been a while." 

She nods. "You're hurt."

"Yeah. It's just blood. I've dealt with worse," he fakes a smile. 

"Adrien, you've been crying..." 

Honestly, he doesn't want to deal with this right now. He knows she's just trying to help, but she looks too much like his Lady, and she's here when Ladybug isn't, and it stings. "I got stood up by someone I've been waiting years to see. If you'll excuse me, I need to go before I make a bigger fool of myself than I already have." 

Her eyes widen slightly. "Who...?"

"I'd really rather not say," he forces another smile. She still looks worried, but there's something behind that worry, something that looks disturbingly like hope. Hope of what? That she can finally act on her high-school crush, now that he's been hurt?

No, he knows that isn't true. Marinette is the nicest girl he ever knew, she wouldn't take advantage like that. He's hurt, and taking it out on this girl. 

Eventually, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Her earlobes have the weirdest scars... "If it helps, I was waiting for someone, as well." 

He raises an eyebrow. "Who's that?"

She tugs at the end of a ponytail. "A guy who I hurt, lied to, and who I made the worst mistake of my life by not trusting. I thought I could fix it, but... I don't know now." 

He smiles, somewhat sarcastically. "Guess we're in similar situations." 

"Guess so." 

He looks down. "I should go..."

For a moment, she looks like she wants desperately to say something. Her lips part, and she reaches out...

But then her hand falls down, and her mouth closes. "I'll see you around..." 

As he leaves, he almost hears her say "Chaton." But the wind is strong that night, and he's stuck with bloody hands and empty arms, and a love that was doomed from the moment they gave each other false names. 

It wasn't supposed to end like this. No closure. No love. Maybe it was for the best that she never showed... As much as it hurt, at least he finally knew where he stood.


End file.
